Matlab-based graphical user interface development for Basic Stamp 2 microcontroller projects

Basic Stamp 2 (BS2) is a popular microcontroller used both in hobby and industrial projects. Similar to other microcontrollers, the BS2 programming environment lacks graphical user interface (GUI) capability. In this paper, we present an approach to endow the BS2 microcontroller with GUI capabilities by interfacing it with Matlab and by exploiting Matlab's abundant GUI tools. The proposed Matlab-based GUI environment for BS2 relies on the use of serial communication between the BS2 and a personal computer. We present three examples to demonstrate the efficacy of our approach.